SATIRE — If you’ve never had the pleasure of listening to one of the greatest musicians of the century, let me introduce you to Weird Al Yankovic. The star artist has countless hit songs, several Grammys, gold and platinum records and has often been described as the Mozart of our generation. He has sold over 12 million albums since his music career kicked off. Take that Beatles. 

Yeah, Weird Al can do it all. He composes and writes all his songs himself, he can DJ, he can sing, he can rap, he can dance, he can produce and he can even play multiple instruments. And with all that talent and the way he changes his hair every week, he’s basically a whole K-pop group by himself. If this music thing didn’t work out he’d still be set for life with all of his talents. 

Let’s look at his hit track “Tacky.” Here are some of the beginning lyrics: “Wear my belt with suspenders and sandals with my socks (Because I’m Tacky), Got some new glitter Uggs and lovely pink sequinned Crocs (Because I’m Tacky).” Now if that doesn’t scream genius, then I don’t know what does. With this song, Weird Al made tacky cool. 

Weird Al had his first top ten Billboard album and single in 2006. The album titled “Straight Outta Lynwood” featured the single “White & Nerdy.” It is still a timeless hit to this day, often played at events like weddings, birthday parties and even at the White House. 

For many, “White & Nerdy” was the song that put Weird Al on their radar. It featured hit comedians Key and Peele trying to escape Weird Al’s character in the music video. To this day, it has been watched over 140 million times. 

People come from far away just to see Weird Al perform. I remember being at his concert in 2012, the New York show had audience members from Scotland, Singapore and even Saturn. People couldn’t believe this one guy could attract so many fans, but I always believed in his star power. 

A genius in every right, Weird Al even has animated videos he designed himself. “Trapped In The Drive-Thru” is the most impressive and relatable song of this generation. I mean fighting over what you want to eat for dinner is a rite of passage in every household. The lyrics say: “‘I don’t know; do you want to get something delivered?’ She’s like, ‘Why would I want to eat liver? I don’t even like liver!’ I’m like, ‘No, I said ‘delivered.’ She’s like, ‘I heard you say ‘liver!’ I’m like, ‘I should know what I said…’ She’s like, ‘Whatever! I just don’t want any liver!’” Mozart definitely couldn’t have done this. 

He’s been in video games, tv shows, movies and is an accomplished author and director. MTV even gave him his own special “Al TV”, which became one of the most viewed reality shows on their channel. 

So if you haven’t checked out Weird Al yet, you must be living under a rock. Get your phone or laptop and search him on YouTube. I promise you won’t be disappointed and if you don’t see him as the modern-day Mozart like I do, at least you’ll let out a good laugh.